The Fall of the House of Usher
by Edgar Allan Poe(1839)
Short Storyc. 15 pages
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens...”
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One great work, every day
by Edgar Allan Poe(1839)
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens...”
Edgar Allan Poe(1839)
From the opening sentence, with its dull, dark, soundless day, you know you have entered a realm where ordinary laws do not apply. The Usher mansion mirrors its inhabitants: fissured, decaying, barely holding together. Roderick and his twin sister Madeline suffer from afflictions beyond medical understanding. Poe orchestrates every element toward a conclusion that feels both inevitable and impossible. The tale established templates that horror fiction still follows, but no imitation captures its particular quality of beautiful dread.